-
Actress Diane Ladd (3-time Oscar & Emmy nominee, winner of the
British Academy Award, and author of "Spiraling Through the School
of Life")

"Yes I like
your questions..." "Certainly, your effort can make some
contribution... there's no doubt."

-
The 14th Dalai Lama - (to "DLR" Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich)

"I
narrated "Dalai Lama Renaissance," because I believe His Holiness is
making a positive influence in our world. For me, the film
represented an opportunity to continue assisting the optimistic
efforts of an extraordinary individual."

"a moving form of visual poetry"
"Captures... momentous magic. Applause to the filmmakers for revealing
the jewel in the lotus... The film is an intimate and stirring
testimony..."

-
Donna Strong - Awareness Magazine

"Dalai Lama Renaissance is a
fascinating and inspiring juxtaposition of human nature and
transcendence."

-
Thom Hartmann - Air America Radio Host

"The Comedy sensation of the summer is coming soon to a theater near
you and the latest laughers from Ben Stiller, Anna Faris or Brad
Pitt can't even begin to hold a candle to it. The movie's star? The
Dalai Lama

"I can't remember the last time a movie made me laugh so hard.
"There are scenes here every bit as comically absurd [as] 'The Life of
Brian.' ['Dalai Lama Renaissance'] plays more like a Monty Python
parody of new age workshops.

"A powerful cinematic documentary… A very moving documentary… unexpected and powerful… Long after it ends, the totality of the documentary lingers, as one contemplates the fact that, if every human being decides to act in the best interest of human kind, we can change the world."

"Fire up this DVD and prepare to be amazed... The film has a certain persuasive power... Hilarious."

-
Ross Robertson - EnlightenNext Magazine

"The film rapidly grabs hold of you… There is plenty of humor… [a] top-notch comedy… A journey of self-discovery… The lessons of Dalai Lama Renaissance apply just as much to the audience watching this insightful documentary"

"81 minutes of power
struggles, flaring egos, and complete love... Hilarious and
sobering"

"[an] emotional wallop"

- Stina Sieg - Glenwood Springs Post
Independent (Colorado)

www.LAyogamagazine.com
February 2008

Review "Dalai Lama Renaissance"

(a documentary by Khashyar Darvich)

By Amy Wong

LA Yoga magazine - February 2008

When speaking about the work of director
Darvich, the venerated Tibetan leader gave high praise: "I like your
questions" very good. Certainly, your efforts can make some sort of
contribution, there"s no doubt." Renaissance, narrated by
Harrison Ford, fulfilled these seemingly prophetic words, winning
numerous awards while touring the film festival circuit.

Renaissance documents the 1999 Synthesis
Conference held in Dharamsala (the residence of the exiled monk),
where 40 of the world"s most prominent thinkers assembled for a week
to dialogue about how to solve our planet"s problems. Some
participants had especially visible roles in Renaissance,
including Your Money of Your Life author Vicki Robbin;
prominent quantum physicists and What the Bleep alums Fred
Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami; and the nonviolence-promoting interfaith
bridge-builder Brother Wayne Teasdale, the whom the film is
dedicated (he passed away in 2004).

The Synthesis participants are some of the most
intellectual, spiritual and noted people on Earth. Even they
displayed misbehaving egos; chaos and dissent ensued even though the
setting was the Dalai Lama"s spiritual home. The manner in which
Darvich captured the group"s breakdowns, as well as the humorous and
skillful way the Synthesis organizers handled them, is a major
strength of the film.

"It is a stunning tour-de-force"

Another Renaissance highlight is, of
course, the intimate glimpse into the Dalai Lama's life in India,
set to an uplifting soundtrack: it is a stunning tour-de-force of
Himalayan scenery, prayer wheels, monkeys, monks of all ages and
even candid poverty.

Throughout the imagery and stories, it was
refreshing to see everyone's humanity. But fitting, since the Dalai
Lama, who often refers to himself as just a simple monk, is quoted
in the film as saying "we're all equal here." This monk gave a
spell-binding and ego-shaking closing conference and film speech in
which he reminded the participants that putting all of humanity
first and working towards their own inner peace is the only true
answer to solving any problem. His sentiments were echoed in a quote
from Leo Tolstoy, read by narrator Ford: "Everybody thinks of
changing humanity, and nobody thinks of changing himself."

Review of "Dalai Lama Renaissance" -
Montreal World Film Festival

by
John Griffin, Montreal Gazette

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL - Khashyar Darvich is another serene
soul at the fest. Though punchy from the red-eye from L.A. with his
co-editor, Robert McFalls, the director-producer of Dalai Lama
Renaissance radiates mindful thinking. Maybe it's the subject.

Darvich's fascinating, ravishingly beautiful and sonically
soothing documentary concerns a journey made by 40 innovative
Western thinkers to the Dalai Lama's home in the Indian Himalayas
just before the new millennium. Their mission was nothing less than
synthesizing new ways to fix the world. What unfolds isn't what they
expected, but what His Holiness had figured all along. Ego. It's a
bitch.

Intercut with the New Age-y speech and cat fights are genuine
unassuming pearls of wisdom delivered by the chuckling, child-like
Dalai Lama, and some accounts of events that led him into exile
after the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1951. Together, they make a
provocative, even enlightening, film.

"I had done an earlier interview with the Dalai Lama and was
recommended to this group. I had less than eight weeks to find a
crew of 18, secure financing, and make the hard trip through India
in the rainy season to a place where the power went out every five
hours."

Miraculously, Darvich shot 140 hours of film which he and McFalls
whittled down to 80 minutes. Harrison Ford narrates.

"Everyone has the ability to make the world better. The only way
this film was worth all the time and effort was to have it serve
humanity and the world."

This is a revelatory documentary about the "Everyman" journey from
egocentric consciousness to something more sublime. The film follows
forty global experts in their fields who traveled to Dharamsala to
advise the Dalai Lama. The first scenes reveal a hilariously
clashing hootenanny of mild-mannered Engaged Buddhists, solemn
Catholics, gabby physicists intent on demonstrating the convergence
of quantum physics with ultimate reality, New Agers dressed in
purple, social change visionaries, and progressive economists, all
engaged in "synthesizing" and "witnessing" brain-storming to collect
all their brilliant ideas to present to the fourteenth Dalai Lama.
This well-educated and well-mannered group then revolted against
their endlessly patient facilitators, in a gray-haired inverse
variation of the "Lord of the Flies." Throughout the chaos that
ensued, each player was shown as confronting her or his own ego, as
much as they confronted the facilitators and fellow participants.
Their conflicts with each other, and most of all, with their own
egos were actually uplifting, as they struggled to be truthful and
respectful while their "bubbling over" clashed with the
facilitators' attempts to create some order out of the unwieldy
explosion of dialogue.

Then something broke open.

Tenzin Gyatso, who kept referred to himself as nothing but a "simple
monk," spoke." And, what he said, and the way he said it sounded
like a clear, clear bell that shattered all the clashing mental
abstractions, and brought attention back to the human level... I
thought I was viewing a
shaktipat moment as I
saw the transformations of the participants simply becoming more of
who they really are, as whatever was obscuring their inner radiance
fell away. i actually felt as if I was feeling some of that myself,
as if these wonderful shaktipat energies were emanating from the
small movie screen I was watching, to me, my friend who was watching
with me, and all the people around us.

Compassion. Joy. Happiness. Even while suffering in participation
and/or witness with and struggling to address the world's problems.

This is a beautiful and fresh window on the Dalai Lama, and what we
in the world who care can do for Tibet and Tibetans. Before the film
started, I was apprehensive I would hear all the same-old records
about the plight of Tibetan Buddhists, and although I support the
Dalai Lama's and all Tibetans cause, from the bottom of my heart, I
can't help but partly tune out when I hear the worn-out views.
However, this film was startlingly original. I know so many of
Tenzin Gyatso's words by heart by now, but in this documentary, it
all sounded so new to me, as if hearing his wisdom for the first
time.

To share with my media friends, I wrote what the Dalai Lama said
media people ought to aim for in their writing: "to promote
clearly basic human values." He spoke about supporting and
loving Chinese people, at the same time supporters of Tibet
encourage the Chinese government to open to rapprochement towards a
win-win solution for Tibetans and Chinese. It's not either-or,
except at the level of egocentricity, in his view. As Einstein said,
we can't solve problems at the same level of consciousness that
created them.

Some of the participants talked about the importance of our getting
in touch with our "Inner Tibets." I disagreed with the view that we
have a choice of addressing either an 'inner" or "outer" Tibet. I
have always believed that profound personal journeys go in both
directions, and I see many "Tibets" throughout the world, as well as
within every person.

My friend Morley Robertson also talks about the 'Tibet Within" in an
original, fresh, and beautiful way at his start-up experimental
multiple media (video, music, and diary) blog on travels through
Tibet, TIBETRONICA:
"This web site "Tibetronica" will also be a journey along the time
axis. Various ideas will evolve from scratch and become embodied
through experimentation and research, finally into a complete (or
incomplete) piece. I aim to make the entire process as transparent
as I can. Trying to break away from clich"s and my own
preconceptions about Tibet, I will carry on with my experiments.

"The early phase of this project will be an attempt to travel to the
'Tibet within'. If there is indeed a secret land inside, I would
like to look for it, before I leave home for the Tibet that is far
away."

The journey and film also reminded me of Rodger
Kamenetz' The Jew in the Lotus, his
allegorical account of the 1990 pilgrimage that a group of American
Jewish leaders made to Dharamsala to advise the Dalai Lama on how to
support the survival of Tibetans and Tibetan culture in indefinite
exile. Their archetypal journey led to much more than the ostensible
goals they were seeking, as well, for both the Tibetans and the
Jewish teachers involved, and for so many who were touched by the
ripple effects of their experience. Kamenetz himself has morphed
from a nervous on-the-sidelines chronicler of the Tibetan-Jewish
pilgrimage to a guide of the inner pilgrimage, in his new book
released this fall, The History of Last Night's Dream,
a luminous book infused with Tibetan, kabbalistic, and Jungian
wisdom, also with fascinating reader input gleaned from Rodger's
wonderful blog, Talking Dream.

Simple Monk, "The Dalai Lama Renaissance", a film by
Khashyar Darvich, narrated by Harrison Ford

By Jordan Colburn

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/18/08 " We
welcomed the opportunity to see the Dalai Lama "up close and
personal", to better understand why he commands such presence and
respect worldwide.

All we had to go on were some sound bites and
very brief reports of the possible confrontation between Tibet and
China, especially with the protests against China and their handling
of Tibet, which played out in many counties in the last month during
the Olympic Games Torch Relay. So I was excited to have an
opportunity to view this award winning film, which Premiers
Nationally at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco May 23, 2008. It
also seemed interesting because the film is narrated by actor
Harrison Ford, whose 4th "Indian Jones" movie opens on
May 22nd.

At the edge of the Millennium, His Holiness, The Dalai Lama of
Tibet invited 40 of the West"s leading, most innovative thinkers in
their respective fields to his residence tucked away in the
Himalayan mountains of Northern India to discuss the world"s
problems and how we can solve them.

What transpired was unexpected and powerful, and was captured by
an 18 person, 5 camera film crew. The Wakan Foundation for the Arts
took its 18 person crew to India and shot more than 140 hours of
video footage during the week-long meeting and exploration of the
future of mankind" enough gripping and beautiful footage to make a
powerful and cinematic documentary. The resulting feature-length
documentary, "Dalai Lama Renaissance," has already received a very
positive response, and 11 International Film Awards, and will be
widely released and distributed in the second half of 2008. The
film features Quantum Physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami
(from "What the Bleep Do We Know"), Dr. Michael Beckwith (from " The
Secret"), Revolutionary Social Scientist Jean Houston, and several
other luminaries. The film has beautifully filmed exotic scenery and
Tibetan and Indian culture as a backdrop to this important meeting.

On the fourth day, a proposal to apply the ethical and spiritual
principals from each discipline to applying pressure on China to
allow for a free Tibet. The Dalai Lama cautioned everyone that
positive change meant not harming anyone, even thousands of Chinese
that may be affected by such an economic boycott.

"This is a fine film and worth
seeing"

The bottom line is that we all have to "free the Tibets" within
ourselves and promote human basic values.

The film allowed me to see a warm, friendly, wise, patient,
astute man, who has a wonderful sense of humor and to learn why he
is so respected.

Some of the best - if unintentional - comic scenes in any new
film out there right now come from an unlikely source, a documentary
about the Dalai Lama. Strictly speaking, Dalai Lama Renaissance, as
it"s called, is not about the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan
Buddhism, but he is certainly the key figure. The documentary deals
with a week-long brainstorming session of self-styled global
thinkers who had no doubt they could put their heads together,
collectively come up with a means to "transform the world"" and
present it to the Dalai Lama.

It is just possible that the Dalai Lama is already aware of at
least one such means of transforming the world, but they were intent
upon giving him their own ideas anyway. About 40 of them made a
pilgrimage, with the Dalai Lama"s blessing, to his compound in
northern India to formulate "a solution to some of the world"s
problems"" and identify "the transitions we must make if we"re going
to survive."" Lots of luck.

Sometimes exhibiting more ego than brains, however, these great
thinkers could not even agree on a format for their discussions, or
"syntheses,"" as they preferred to call them, let alone solutions.
Variously bickering, interrupting, show-boating or simply lost in
wishful thinking, the participants on one occasion even completely
misinterpreted what the Dalai Lama had just told them. The Dalai
Lama appeared to be the only sane person in the room.

"Sometimes brilliant minds are like thin-shelled eggs,"" one
observer put it. "They can crack easily."" A participant in one
pointed discussion, apparently mindful of the auspices, declared,
"I"d like to feel a little compassion here.""

"an extraordinary portrait of His
Holiness at work."

It was left for the Dalai Lama himself to bring the foundering
gathering into focus, and at this point the documentary, from
filmmaker Khashyar Darvich, shifts gears and becomes an
extraordinary portrait of His Holiness at work. The Dalai Lama"s
compassion extends to all, including self-deluded intellectuals.

Participants in the group included, by my count, at least two
quantum physicists, writers, a psychiatrist, religious scholars and
so forth, but for all their exalted status they could be reduced to
wannabe Dalai Lama groupies, and no wonder. The Dalai Lama, from the
moment he hops out of the back seat of a workaday car, is buoyant,
cheerful and very canny.

When one participant asked if he would support an economic
boycott of China, the Dalai Lama gave a thorough answer that
included the statement that humanity was the "No. 1"" consideration
and "harming China"s economy would do no good."" Nonetheless, most
members of the group didn"t seem to understand that he was saying
"no."" One woman displayed her Chinese-made shoes and volunteered to
stop buying them. The documentary actually had to spell out in the
final credits that "the Dalai Lama does not support an economic
boycott of China."" Another participant wanted him to assume the
mantle of "leadership"" of a world movement, which he also refused,
saying he wished to remain a simple Buddhist monk.

Dalai Lama Renaissance will be shown at the Roxie, at 16th and
Valencia in the Mission District, beginning Friday, May 23. It is
narrated by actor Harrison Ford, whose ex-wife was prominent in
American Buddhist circles. Ford"s participation was a giveaway that
the film would go beyond the initial dysfunction of the group,
however comic.

What makes them so comic is how seriously they take themselves.
The Dalai Lama, who must teach by example, is the one with the sense
of humor.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Dalai Lama Renaissance

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, perhaps is one of the most
recognizable and most controversial figures today. Who is he? What
is his teaching? What is his view on the current issues we are
facing in the world?

Although the documentary
"Dalai Lama Renaissance" (USA 2007, 81 min.) does not answer all
of these questions, it does give an up close profile to this
extraordinary and complex individual.

In 1999, 40 westerners with different religion background,
disciplines, and of course, point of views, travel to India to meet
the Dalai Lama at his residence. Their goal is to discuss many
problems in the world we are facing today and gain perspectives
through the direct dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Before they begin a
discussion with the Dalai Lama during a limited time each day, these
westerns debate and discuss among themselves trying to come up some
kind of consensus about how to present their views to the Dalai Lama
and how to proceed the dialogue. This film captures their spiritual
journey, as well the Dalai Lama's teaching.

In places like Germany, the Dalai Lama's undeniable charisma and
likeable personality make himself
more popular than the
pope as a religious leader, and a respectable spiritual
inspiration to many. Many footage of his teaching in this film
effectively shows the Dalai Lama's passion for humanity as well as
his wit and insight toward spirituality. He tells his audience to
open heart and embrace the spirituality inside ourselves with or
without any religious faith; and to achieve the inner peace within
ourselves.

"It is indeed inspiring and thought
provoking."

It is indeed inspiring and thought provoking.

It is also very interesting to observe how the 40 western
participants react and interpret the Dalai Lama's teaching, and how
naive some of them are by expecting that the Dalai Lama will give
them solutions to the problems in the world. Many of the
participants express themselves and their rewarding experience
eloquently. Some of the participants obviously have the intention of
using this meeting to get a vindication on their own political
agenda from the Dalai Lama. Some others simply expose themselves for
how ignorant and close minded they are even after the teaching from
the Dalai Lama.

Understandably, the filmmaker expresses his own point of view
about the history and politics in Tibet, without
necessarily reflecting the actual Tibetan history. To portrait
the Dalai Lama as a victim of the Chinese government is anything but
the truth.

That's the tricky point when it comes to understand the Dalai
Lama's role.

The Dalai Lama is an almighty figure when he comes to be a
religious and a humanitarian leader. He would have been embraced by
the Chinese government if he dedicates himself to that role, which
inspires millions of people around the world. However, he is also a
politician, especially when he presents himself to the Chinese
government and the Chinese people. By playing both roles, the Dalai
Lama is able to mobilize the western media in his support to deal
with the Chinese government, because to the westerners, he appears
to be a religious and a spiritual leader. As a consequence, he
becomes ambiguous and perplex when it comes to sensitive issues such
as how to deal with the Chinese government.

This dilemma shows dramatically in the film when an anti-Chinese
government participant ask the Dalai Lama specifically if the Dalai
Lama would approve an economical sanction against China over the
issue of Tibet. The Dalai Lama first expresses his concern that such
action will harm the welfare of the Chinese people, including
Tibetan people. He emphasizes that people should not take any action
to harm the Chinese people. Therefore, the logical answer one might
think is that he does not approve such an action, right? Yet, he
refuses to give an straight answer to that simple question. He
winkes with a smile. What he preaches does not apply here any more.
Strange? Not for a politician. Isn't the idea of
"separation of church and state" absolutely brilliant?

"Dalai Lama Renaissance is an 80 minute documentary film about
forty of the world"s most innovative thinkers who travel to India in
the Himalayan Mountains to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of
the world"s problems. What happened was surprising and unexpected.
Narrated by actor Harrison Ford, the film also features Quantum
Physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Gowami from "What the Bleep Do We
Know," and Michel Beckwith and Fred Alan Wolf from "the Secret."
Winner of 9 awards at film festivals around the world, it is the
official selection of over 30 international film festivals."
Director Khashyar Darvich on "Dalai Lama Renaissance" which screens
at this year"s Victoria Film Festival.

So you"re in a conversation with someone you haven"t met before
at the Victoria fest and they ask if you have a film in the
festival. What do you tell them to get them to come see your film?
What"s your hook?

"Dalai Lama Renaissance" features intimate, personal moments with
the Dalai Lama, and is narrated by Harrison Ford. It was filmed with
5 cameramen in the Dalai Lama"s residence in India, and I have been
told that "Dalai Lama Renaissance" gives audiences a very unique and
intimate experience with the Dalai Lama. One executive of a major
Hollywood studio told me that he has seen many films about and with
the Dalai Lama, but that "Dalai Lama Renaissance" gives the audience
the most intimate and direct experience of him of any other film
about him. I have been told that you through the film, you feel that
you have spent some time with the Dalai Lama. The film has played to
sold out audiences around the world, and after almost every
screening of the film, people in the audience come up to me and
express how the film has deeply and profoundly impacted their lives.

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background, and what
led you to wanting to make films.

From an early age, I wanted to express myself through writing, and
to communicate through words. I was raised in a small college town
in Oxford, Ohio, began writing poetry and screenplays, and then
became a newspaper reporter. While producing one of my film scripts,
I was given the opportunity to produce and direct a documentary film
about a Colorado Rocky Mountain town that was broadcast on the
History Channel and PBS stations. I realized that film was a way to
impact people in the most powerful way possible, and what became
most satisfying for me was to produce and direct films that really
touch and impact and even transform audiences in a positive way. I
felt that at the end of my life, when I am lying on my deathbed, I
want to feel that I did something that was truly worthwhile and that
left the world at least a little bit better than when I was entered
the world.

Tell me about how this production came together and how the film
was made.

I had always found the Dalai Lama one of the most inspiring figures
for peace in the world, and a sincere spiritually accomplished
person who is making a great positive impact on the world. I had
interviewed the Dalai Lama for an earlier documentary film about
peace, and the Organizers of the meeting with the Dalai Lama (that
later was featured "Dalai Lama Renaissance") had heard of my
previous work with him, and invited me to produce and direct a
documentary film about the trip and event. I had only 8 weeks to
find a crew of 18 to travel to India to shoot the event.

Please tell me about the technical side of the film; your
relation to the film"s cinematographer, what the film was shot on
and why it was decided to be photographed this way.

We actually had 5 different camera men and women on the trip and
during production, and I could not be with every cameraman and woman
during all of the events that were taking place. I gave each
cameraperson directions as to what we wanted to capture and the
heart of the story, and then trusted them based on their
professional artist sense to capture the interviews and story
elements and images that were necessary. We shot a total of 140
hours of footage, and I really didn"t realize the footage that we
had until we returned to the United States and I watched all 140
hours of footage. It was only after I watched all 140 hours of
videotape, that I understood the heart and structure of the film"s
story.

Out of the entire production, what was the most difficult aspect
of making this film? Also, what was the most pleasurable moment?

The most difficult part of this production was post production,
because to create the very best film, I had to personally watch and
write detailed notes on all 140 hours of footage, and then discover
what the story and allow the film to emerge in an organic and
natural way. Another difficult aspect was to maintain objectivity
during editing (since I was also the film"s director and main
producer), and be able to see the film in a fresh way and through
the eyes of a first time viewer. Test screenings really helped with
understanding how audiences saw the film, and what was working and
what needed adjusting.

There were several pleasurable aspects of the production, including
interviewing the Dalai Lama (who has a very real and profound
palpable presence about him), as well as watching the footage and
discovering a remarkable moment or shot or interview for the first
time. It was like discovering a cinematic gem. I knew that if a
piece of footage impacted my emotions or fascinated me, then I
believed that most audiences would feel the same. And the most
satisfying aspect of this film for me is to watch the film with
audiences, hear and experience their reaction, and then speak with
audiences afterwards and hear how the film had an impact on them.

Who would you say your biggest inspirations are in the film world
(directors, actors, cinematographers, etc)? Did you have any direct
inspirations from filmmakers for this film in particular?

I respect and admire filmmakers who explore new territory in film,
and who use film and the visual arts to impact audiences in new and
powerful ways. I think that Martin Scorsese does this with powerful
images, music and story. It was interesting how Scorsese used
original Tibetan inspired soundtrack (via the work on Phillip
Glass), and rich cultural colors and images, to draw audiences into
the story in his feature film about the Dalai Lama ("Kundun"). I
think in Kundun, he used violent scenes of the Chinese invasion of
Tibet in a powerful relevant way. Frank Capra expressed pureness of
heart and something indelible in the human spirit and character in
"It"s a Wonderful Life," which is one of my favourite films.

I think that Harold Ramis did something remarkable by entertaining
us as well as exploring the nature of time in "Groundhog Day." How
did these and other filmmakers impact my work on "Dalai Lama
Renaissance"? I"m not sure that they did, because "Dalai Lama
Renaissance" is a unique kind of project, that captures a unique
moment in time and meeting between Western innovative thinkers and
the Dalai Lama. I knew that this film would require patience, as
well as gathering other dedicated crew members who could put their
heart into the film. That extra passionate and earnest effort, I
believe, has been synthesized into the film, and is one reason that
audiences at film festivals around the world have responded to the
film. Perhaps the quality of patience in filmmaking, and commitment
to stay with a project over time, struck me in documentary films
such as "Hoop Dreams," which required really caring about the
subject matter, and committing oneself to a project for years. I
think that I also saw this kind of personal commitment to ones film
and subject matter in the Academy Award-winning documentary "Born
into Brothels."

How has the film been received at other festivals or screenings?
Do you have any interesting stories about how this film has screened
before? If this is your first festival, what do you think you will
expect at the film"s screenings at Victoria?

We are very happy by how "Dalai Lama Renaissance" has been received
so far. It has won 9 international film festival awards thus far
(including 3 audience awards), and is the official selection of over
30 film festivals around the world. It has been received very well,
as is evident in sold out screening all over the film, including: 4
sold out screening at the Montreal World Film Festival, 3 sold out
screenings at FilmFest Munich in Germany, one thousand people
attending the film festival opening night screening at the Frozen
River Film Festival in Minnesota, sold out screenings at the Cork
Film Festival in Ireland, and other sold out screenings. I am
pleased that audiences around the world recognize the human story
and inner journey in the film.

One memorable film festival screening of "Dalai Lama Renaissance"
that comes to mind was at the Taos Mountain Film Festival in New
Mexico. One woman in the audience was planning a trip to Nepal
before the festival, but after having watched the film, she decided
to cancel her trip and begin a socially conscious film festival in
her area as a way to make a difference in the lives of others in her
community. She told us that it was seeing "Dalai Lama Renaissance"
that inspired her to do this.

We have also had prominent film directors and others in the
entertainment industry who have watched "Dalai Lama Renaissance" and
felt profoundly impacted by it. These experiences give me a deep and
humbling feeling of satisfaction, affirming that we have approached
making the film with the right intentions and effort.

I really look forward to sharing the film with festival audiences in
Victoria, and am grateful to be screening the film here.

If you weren"t making movies, what other line or work do you feel
you"d be in?

If I weren"t making socially conscious films, I would make sure and
work in a profession that makes a difference to society, like being
a teacher, mentoring children, or working to directly help others in
some way or doing some kind of social work.

How important do you think the critical/media response is to film
these days, be it a large production, independent film or festival
title?

I think that media exposure always serves to make audiences aware of
a particular film, especially independent films that do not have the
marketing backing and dollars of a Hollywood studio marketing
campaign. Critical media also might help to open a dialogue in the
public if there are important issues that are addressed in a
particular film.

In a practical sense, a film reviewer and reviews help to support
films and give audiences confidence to watch or not watch a
particular film. They give an important boost to filmmakers and help
their film be seen by more and more audiences.

If your film could play in any movie theatre in the world, which
one would you choose?

"Dalai Lama Renaissance" has played in some remarkable historic
movie theatres around the world, but I would love to sit with
audiences during screenings in the Arclight dome theatre or Chinese
Theatre in Hollywood. But, appreciative audiences are the most
important thing for me during a screening, no matter where the film
is screened.

If you could offer a nickel"s worth of free advice to someone who
wanted to make movies, what nuggets of wisdom would you offer?

Find a subject matter that you feel is important and that you feel
passionate about, and then do whatever is necessary to get the film
made. Bring in people and crew members who have skills and resources
that you do not have, and show appreciation for all of their
efforts. Filmmaking is a team effort, that is driven by a filmmakers
own believe and commitment to a project.

Also, I believe in following ones intuition and gut feelings
throughout all aspects of filmmaking. I personally see filmmaking as
a spiritual practice for me (as opposed to a religious one), so the
same integrity and heart and dedication and respect that I put into
my personal spiritual practice, I put into making films.

What do you love the most about film and the filmmaking business?

That I can do something that can inspire and impact audiences in a
positive way.

A question that is easy for some but not for others and always
gets a different response: what is your favourite movie of all time?

"It"s a Wonderful Life," because it still has the power to put a
tear in my eye, and touch my heart, after all these years, and after
all of the times that I have watched it.

This film will be screening at this year"s Victoria Film
Festival, which runs February 1st to 10th, 2008.

As the curtain rapidly fell on the
20th Century, his holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of
Tibet, grew so deeply troubled by the state of the modern world that
he invited 40 pivotal Western thinkers to his secluded home in
Northern India's Himalayan Mountains, for a lengthy and pointed
brainstorming session on the problems of contemporary society and
how to solve them most effectively. Foreseeing the importance of
this event, documentarist Khashyar Darvich joined the group with an
18-member, 5-camera crew in tow (sponsored by the Wakan Foundation
for the Arts) and sought to capture the event on film. This yielded
some 140 hours of video footage, edited down to feature length for
Darvich's documentary Dalai Lama Renaissance. The film preserves, in
80 minutes, the most insightful, illuminative and engaging dialogues
from Gyatso's conference. Oscar-nominated actor Harrison Ford
(Frantic) narrates. ~

Nepal film festival gives China
culture shock

Nepal|
Saturday, December 08, 2007

By Sudeshna Sarkar. Kathmandu, Nepal

IANS

Assured of Nepal's new government's support for
its 'One China' policy and refusal to acknowledge Tibet or Taiwan as
separate nations, China nonetheless is about to get a rude shock
from an expected quarters - a film festival.

One of Kathmandu's much-acclaimed festivals, the Kathmandu
International Mountain Film Festival hosted by Himal Association,
that kicked off in the capital Friday includes four films related to
Tibet, of which three are certainly going to be anathema to Beijing.

On Sunday, the City Hall will screen 'Dalai Lama Renaissance',
the new documentary on the exiled Tibetan leader's meetings with
western thinkers like quantum physicist FredAlan Wolf and social
scientist Jean Houston.

Directed by Khashyar Darivch, narrated by Bollywood icon Harrison
Ford and released only this summer, the documentary will draw fresh
attention to the Nobel peace laureate who recently ruffled the
Chinese government's feathers saying he would announce the name of
his successor, which would outmanoeuvre Beijing's bid to control his
heir, like they have with another Tibetan leader, the Panchen Lama.

For a succession of Nepal governments, who have wanted good
relations with their giant northern neighbour China, the Dalai Lama
virtually doesn't exist. Under King Gyanendra's influence, the
government closed the office of the Dalai Lama's representative in
Kathmandu and has refused to let it re-open.

Three years ago, when Nepal hosted a Buddhist conference at
Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in south Nepal, the Dalai Lama
was not invited though the heads of other Buddhist states were.

To rub salt into Beijing's wound, the mountain film festival will
screen 'Dreaming Lhasa' Monday.

Made by the husband-wife team of Tibetan exile Tenzing Sonam and
Indian Ritu Sarin, the film depicts the plight of the exiled Tibetan
community in India and has been hailed as the first major feature
film by a Tibetan to deal with contemporary Tibet.

In 2005, China tried to pressure the organisers of the Toronto
International Film Festival to remove 'Dreaming Lhasa'. Though the
organisers refused, Beijing had more success at the Pusan
International Film Festival in South Korea the same year when though
initially chosen for screening, 'Dreaming Lhasa' was dropped at the
last moment with no explanation.

When the film premiered in the US in April, to combat it, the
Chinese government promoted 'The Silent Holy Stones' - that though
made by a well-regarded Tibetan filmmaker within Tibet, can be used
as Chinese propaganda.

On Tuesday, 'Miss Tibet' directed by Dutch Siebout Leseur van
Leeuwen will draw attention to the defiant beauty pageant that is
held at Dharamsala, the seat of the Dalai Lama, in India every year.

Beijing has been trying to prevent the winner of the title from
taking part in other beauty contests, saying Miss China is the
legitimate contender.

Though this year's Miss China went on to sweep the Miss World
title, Miss Tibet continues to be a thorn in Beijing's flesh.

Only this month, China put pressure on Malaysia to bar Miss Tibet
2006 Tsering Chungtak at the Miss Tourism Pageant unless she agreed
to wear a sash that said Miss Tibet-China.

The Tibetan pulled out, saying she would not wear the sash.

The lack of publicity about the entries till the eve of the film
festival could have lulled China into a false sense of security.

Tibet right groups in India have complained that when they tried
to screen Tibet-related films, the Chinese Embassy in
New Delhi tried to pressure them into withdrawing them.

India is home to some 100,000 Tibetans who fled their homeland
along with the Dalai Lama in 1959 following a failed anti-China
uprising. No country recognizes the Tibetan government-in-exile
here.

Khashyar Darvich went to Tibet to film a documentary about 40 of
the world's top thinkers joining the Dalai Lama to devise a plan for
changing the direction of the world.

Darvich came away with a film that follows a metamorphosis from
outer to inner vision and from a plan to change everyone else to a
plan to change oneself.

Darvich's story of that metamorphosis will be screened this
weekend in the Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival.

Contentiousness began even before the conference opened, as the
40 people traveled from an Indian airport to the Dalai Lama's home.
By the time they began discussing the grand scheme, they were
virtually at each other's throats and it looked as though the
conference would disintegrate.

"At first, we expected great thinkers would solve the world's
problems," Darvich said. "Halfway through, we realized the story was
about their inner journeys."

What happened when the Dalai Lama arrived to start the conference
became the story Darvich filmed, even became its title, "Dalai Lama
Renaissance."

His presence, his respect for everyone and everything around him,
gradually brought an end to the confrontations, Darvich said.

"He sort of inspires others," Darvich said.

The discussion also turned from a grand design to an inner design.

"In the film, we see great personal change," Darvich said.

That change was carried back into the world from which the
participants came and that change will spread like ripples from
their presence from now on, Darvich said.

"The seed will keep growing. It has reached millions of people," he
said.

Darvich said he did not come to the project from a Buddhist
perspective.

"I grew up in Ohio, in the heart of the Bible Belt," he said.

He has, however, come to respect the Dalai Lama.

"He walks the talk," he said. "He is certainly a man who works for
peace."

Though directing the film was a satisfying experience, nothing
matched the audience reaction the first time it was shown, Darvich
said.

"Audience members said they cried. They felt affected. That was
worth the entire experience for me," he said.

Narrating the document is Harrison Ford, who needed very little
persuading to take on the unpaid gig, Darvich said.

Ford was at the top of a short list of people Darvich and his
collaborators thought would do a good job, so he contacted Ford's
agent, who forwarded a copy of the script to the actor, who accepted
almost immediately.

Darvich said he asked Ford to be prepared to read each line twice,
once each in two styles.

Instead, he read each line as many times as it took to get the
effect Darvich sought, as many as 10 times in some cases.

"He never complained," Darvich said.

Darvich will be at the Saturday screening of his film and said he
will remain after the showing to answer questions if audience
members want him to.

Monday Sep 10, 2007

Harrison Ford Lends His Voice To the Dalai Lama

Harrison Ford may do for the Dalai Lama
what Morgan Freeman did for penguins -- at least
that's what the people who made The Dalai Lama Renaissance
hope.

Ford narrated the
docu, which chronicles a meeting the Dalai Lama held at the end
of 1999 with philosophers and thinkers to "solve the world's
problems." You know, kids' stuff.

Khashyar Darvich, producer-director of Dalai
Lama Renaissance, told FBLA that Ford topped the director's
list of dream narrators because "he is a grounded person who is
liked by a wide variety of audiences, and who has a solid voice for
narration."

So far, the film has wound its way through the festival circuit,
and Darvich is hoping for wider distribution later this year. In the
meantime, he answered some of our questions about his film and His
Holiness.

1. How long did it take to complete this film?

The event was filmed at the end of 1999, just before the New
Millennium. I feel that all films (especially documentaries) have
their own innate timing and process. I had to first take care of my
other producing responsibilities for about a year, and then I came
back to Dalai Lama Renaissance.

The reasons that the film took a few years to complete were:

1) I felt that we had captured a very special moment and time,
and so I gave up all my offers of other films to devote myself to
this film. I did not accept any other film offers and work, and
decided to give myself completely to this film, which meant to watch
and log all 140 hours of footage myself, pay for the post-production
of the film myself, and patiently hold test screenings and bring in
the right people (who had a genuine feeling for the project).

I gave this film the care and attention that it needed, and the
film moved forward in a way that was natural and right for the film.

We decided to focus on the timelessness of the story, and about
the human journey and struggle and transformation of the characters
in the film, as well as the timeless wisdom of the Dalai Lama.

The timing of the film worked perfectly, because if we had asked
Harrison Ford 6 months earlier or later to narrate the film, he
would not have been available.

I think that everything, especially a documentary film, has its
own
timing. Most of the documentaries that receive nominations for
Academy Awards take a few years to make.

2. What message are you hoping to make with this film?

The Dalai Lama says many inspiring and deeply impactful things in
the
film. My intention was not to present a specific message, rather to
impact audiences in the most powerful and positive way possible.

My intention for making the film was to present a powerful story,
and
intimate experience with the Dalai Lama, that would touch and
inspire
people. From our four sold-out screenings at the Montreal World Film
Festival, to the three sold-out screenings at FilmFest Munich, and
sold-out screenings at the Telluride MountainFilm Festival,
audiences after the screenings have come up to me expressing that
they have been deeply impacted and inspired. This is the greatest
satisfaction for me as a filmmaker.

Audiences and Entertainment Industry people are telling me that
they have seen many films on the Dalai Lama, and this is the most
intimate
experience of him on film that they have seen.

One of the main messages expressed in the story and characters of
the film is that the most effective way to create positive change in
the world is to first transform and change ourselves and look at our
own issues, and then this in itself will change those around us- --
our families, our towns, and even farther outwards.

Many people want to change the world without also changing
themselves and resolving the issues and conflicts that they have
themselves and in their families. The Dalai Lama (and the film) is
very very much about personal responsibility.

3. How were the meeting's participants chosen?

You can find a full list of who is included in the film (and also
attended the meeting)
here.

In fact, people who are included in our film are also featured in
the
films "The Secret" and "What the Bleep Do We Know," as well as went
on to have successful careers as authors, radio hosts, etc.

They were chosen mainly by a close friend of the Dalai Lama
(Brother Wayne Teasdale), a Western monk who himself is an author
and is included in the film.

4. How did Harrison Ford become involved in the project?

We made a short list of who we thought would be the best narrator
for the film, and Harrison Ford was on the top of the list. We
called his office, explained the project to his office, and he had
the press kit in his hands a few days later when he was flying from
Los Angeles.

He liked the project, and eight weeks later Harrison and we were
in a
recording studio recording the narration.

I thought was a great choice because he is a grounded person who
is liked by a wide variety of audiences, and who has a solid voice
for narration.

This is an example of how the timing of this film was perfect,
because if we would have asked him six months earlier to do the
narration, he would not have been available, and if we would have
asked him six months later, he would also not have been available.

"There
are some interesting documentaries at the festival as well. "The
Dalai Lama Renaissance" by Kashyar Darvich is worthwhile seeing. The
documentary gives viewers an inside look into the meeting between 40
prominent Western thinkers and The Dalai Lama, which took place
before the new millennium. He invited them to discuss world issues
but instead some of them were just so lost in their own egos and
were clashing with others instead of working together on practical
solutions. The highlight of the documentary is, of course, The Dalai
Lama. Whenever he is on screen, he is truly inspiring. Along with
his contagious smile, it is great to see how he lives and hear his
views about the state of the world."

"I narrated "Dalai Lama Renaissance,"" says
Harrison Ford, "because I believe His Holiness is making a positive
influence in our world. For me, the film represented an opportunity
to continue assisting the optimistic efforts of an extraordinary
individual."

"Dalai Lama Renaissance" is only among a small
handful of documentaries that Ford has chosen to narrate during his
career. Ford has starred in such blockbuster films as "Raider of the
Lost Ark" & the "Indiana Jones" movies, "Star Wars," "The Fugitive,"
"Witness," and many others. Harrison Ford"s films have the second
highest worldwide box office gross (over $5.5 billion) of any actor
in history. Ford is also starring in "Indian Jones 4," which is
directed by Stephen Spielberg and will be released in May 2008.

"Dalai Lama Renaissance"- produced, directed
and co-edited by filmmaker Khashyar Darvich- is the story of 40
Western innovative thinkers who travel to India in the Himalayan
Mountains to meet with the Dalai Lama to solve many of the world"s
problems. What happened was surprising and unexpected, and was
captured by a five camera, 18 person crew.

The film also features two of the starring
quantum physicists from the hit documentary "What the Bleep Do We
Know," Physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Ami Goswami. Also appearing in
"Dalai Lama Renaissance" are Dr. Michael Bernard Beckwith (founder
and director of Agape International Spiritual Center, who appears in
the film "The Secret" with Wolf), ground-breaking social scientist
Jean Houston and author and radio host Thom Hartmann.

The film has a world-class music soundtrack
that includes original music from one of the master sitar players in
the world, Roop Verma, who is a prot"g" of legendary Indian
musicians Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. One of the top three
Tibetan musicians in the West, Tashi Dhondup Sharzur, has also
recorded original music for the film. Composer Henry Reid, who has
contributed to the Grammy-Award-Winning group "Manheim Steamroller,"
is composing the Western music.

Robert McFalls, one of the editors of the
Academy Award-winning Documentary "American Dream," is Co-Editor of
"Dalai Lama Renaissance" with Darvich. Consulting Editors on "Dalai
Lama Renaissance" include Luis Carballar (an editor on the
Oscar-nominated film "Amores Perros") and Oscar-nominated
documentary editor Paula Stein.

Producer-Director Khashyar Darvich spent six
years producing and editing "Dalai Lama Renaissance," and funded the
film independently since he wanted to make sure that the film would
be made with the highest integrity and artistic quality.

After one of Darvich"s interviews with the
Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama affirmed Darvich"s and Wakan Films"
motivations in producing films-- "Yes I like your questions," the
Dalai Lama told Darvich, as the two were standing together talking
after the interview. "Certainly, your effort can make some
contribution"there"s no doubt."

"Dalai Lama Renaissance" is schedule for release in late 2007.

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